Who is Michael Grant? Well let me tell you, he is a bald and cranky old man who lives in Tibourn, California with his wife and two children. Not only is he just some ordinary guy living in America, but he is also well known as a young adult fiction author of the thriller series “Gone” and “Magnificent 12”. Isn’t that amazing?

For my writer’s seminar, we chose Michael Grant because he writes a lot about futuristic topics and adds a lot of dry humor in his writing. When there is a tough situation going on, he likes to add a little humor in to lighten up the plot lines a bit. His stories all get right to the point and he doesn’t like to spend much time on the description and symbolism. The plots of his stories are very action oriented as they progress through conflict.

Some of his advice for aspiring authors in writing fiction would be to work hard, read often, and to ignore what people say about writing. There really is no method to writing fiction, according to Michael Grant; all you have to do is just tell a story using words, as simple as that. Another one of his advice would be “manage to be born with some natural talent. Talent isn’t enough by itself, but if you don’t have at least some natural talent you won’t have a career as a writer. Not fair? Spoiler alert: Life isn’t fair.”

 

For the emulation piece we chose this excerpt because it shows how he uses the dry humor. We then asked our classmates to write something funny and can make us laugh like Mr. Grant here.

The kids looked at Sam.

“Mom’s not home? What do we do?” The older one asked

Sam shrugged. “Stay inside for some time. Have a bit of ice cream. Maybe a cookie.

He began to walk off, Astrid following him.

“That’s your solution? Have a cookie? In a new world, that’s the best you can do?’ Astrid asked. 

‘No, my solution is to run down to the beach and hide out until this is all over,’ Sam said. ‘But a cookie never hurts.”

This is my emulation piece that I was able to create during the time in class. I apologize in advance if it isn’t well written. I am still working on my emulating skills.

“Hey Joseph, you look tense, do you want to hear a joke?” asked Annie.

“NO!” Joseph replied back aggressively.

“Okay, so why did the guy put the girlfriend in jail?”

“But I never asked you for a joke.”

“Come on, just answer it! It’s really funny,” Annie smirked quietly.

“I don’t know, why?” Joseph sighed.

“Because she stole his heart! I told you it would be funny,” Annie laughed.

***Awkward Silence***

In conclusion, Michael Grant is a significant author for his style of writing as it is very literal and he doesn’t spend much time on description. He likes to get right to the point of the story, not to mention the use of dry humor in his writing.

To find more about Michael Grant, you can visit his website or check out this video below!

Website: www.themichaelgrant.com

Video: (Viewer Discretion is Advised) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpqrpdzohZA